January 10, 2016

The Book of Revelation - Professor Pagels

Elaine Pagels, née Hiesey (born Palo Alto, California, February 13, 1943), is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, she is best known for her studies and writing on the Gnostic Gospels. Her popular books include The Gnostic Gospels (1979), Adam, Eve, and the Serpent (1988), The Origin of Satan (1995), Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2003), Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (2007), and Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation (2012).

Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers
have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as
the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars,
she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating
their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however,
tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament
canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end
of the world . . . or is it?

In this startling and timely book,
Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written
as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is
now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem,
fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's
occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of
Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets
Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after,
however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a
weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians
who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies.

In
a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how
often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's
enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's
committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to
understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's
religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary
text.